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Wyverstone gun haul: Parish council chairman James Arnold dies | Wyverstone gun haul: Parish council chairman James Arnold dies |
(about 3 hours later) | |
A parish council chairman who was charged after police found a haul of guns at his home has died in prison. | A parish council chairman who was charged after police found a haul of guns at his home has died in prison. |
Officers found weapons including an AK-47 and an Uzi sub-machine gun at the home of James Arnold, at Wyverstone, Suffolk, after a search in April. | |
Suffolk Police said Mr Arnold, 49, of Potash Lane, died on 14 July. He was due to enter pleas to the charges at Ipswich Crown Court on Friday. | |
Prosecutors said the case against Mr Arnold has been discontinued. | |
Mr Arnold had been terminally ill with cancer, but a cause of death is not yet known. | |
Controlled explosions | |
Officers discovered the weapons during a search of a house while investigating assault allegations. | |
He was charged with being in possession of a self-loading rifle gun, a bolt-action shotgun, an Uzi and an AK-47 assault rifle, along with being accused of two assaults. | |
However, it is understood the amount of weapons seized by police ran into three figures. | |
A vast amount of ammunition was also found. | |
Following the discovery, a number of controlled explosions were carried out at the home by bomb disposal experts to make the items safe. | |
Earlier in the month, police confirmed a 45-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of possession of a prohibited firearm had been released without charge. | |
A 63-year-old man from Norfolk, arrested on 16 July on suspicion of selling or transferring a firearm to a person without a certificate, has been bailed until 27 August. | A 63-year-old man from Norfolk, arrested on 16 July on suspicion of selling or transferring a firearm to a person without a certificate, has been bailed until 27 August. |